Fan of the Week: DensleyBlair

[Vann the Red]

And now, it's time to pass this award along. I really wanted to give this to someone who had not previously won, but in looking over the past weeks of my favorite AARs one name stands out clearly: Stuyvesant

Let me be the first to say: Congratulations, Stuyvesant!

Vann

[Rensslaer]

Oooh! An excellent choice, Vann!

Congratulations, Stuyvesant! Together with Stnylan, you win the award for the most thoughtful (i.e. usefully intellectual) commenter!

Great work! Third time winner, too -- but not since 2006, which is surely unjust.

Rensslaer

[stnylan]

A most worthy winner. A reader any writer would dearly love to have, for his comments are posts all by themselves.

[robou]

Congratulations Stuyvesant! Few better comments come from anyone; thoutful, insightive and never lacking in detail. From what I have seen in A Special Providence, The Longest Night and the start of my own AAR (and may I say it is an honour to have you along), I can see you are most deserving of this award.

[The Yogi]

A most worthy winner. A reader any writer would dearly love to have, for his comments are posts all by themselves.

Hear, hear! A comment from Stuyvesant is always a treat. Well deserved!

[Alfred Packer]

That is the truth Robou! Congrats Stuyvesant for a well-deserved honor!

[Qorten]

Congrats Stuyvesant!

[coz1]

Always an excellent choice! Stuyvesant is the true definition of Fan. His comments are detailed and always informative. I look forward to them any time I update.

Congratulations, sir! Well deserved.

[Enewald]

Gratz!

[Myth]

Congrats, Stuyvesant!

[asd21593]

Congratulations, Stuyvesant!

[Hardraade]

Congratulations, Stuyvesant!

[daemonofdecay]

Conbobulations Stuyvesant!

[comagoosie]

No one but Stuyvesant can make a comment a part of an AAR.

[Stuyvesant]

Thank you, Vann, for the nod, and thank you to everyone else for the congratulations.

I've been rather absent for the past year, but recently I've tried to read a few more AARs again. And I've been struck (as I alway am, whenever I return after prolonged absence) just how wonderful a place this forum is. The most polite and mature posters (granted, I don't visit OT), all the volunteering that keeps the place going, and of course the rich pickings of AARs.

I think I've said it before, and even if I haven't, it isn't a very imaginative metaphor, but I always feel like a kid in a candy store. After winning one of those 'free shopping spree' prizes.

Whatever the style, whatever the subject, there's probably an AAR about it. And the thing that really blows my mind is: not only do you get to read all this stuff, and it won’t cost you a thing, you also get to interact with the authors! You can tell them what worked really well, you can tell them when you’re confused, you can ask them to elaborate a point, or give some historical background… And then get a response to your response! Oh, and the authors tend to enjoy the interruptions, as well.

<Shakes head in amazement>

Since I've been given this soapbox (really? I wasn't given it? Well, I have it now, and as they say, possession is nine-tenths of the law...), I'll point out a few examples that have entertained me recently (and not so recently).

I'm not usually very interested in pure gameplay AARs, mostly because I'll never be good enough to emulate some of the more outlandish examples, but even I drop in on Kanitatlan's efforts some times. Then again, judging by the post and view counts of his ongoing Magnum Opus, so does everybody else on this forum.

I’m most commonly drawn to history book and/or narrative AARs. There are some very talented people out there, beavering away at their masterpieces, and there’s a lot of entertainment and even enlightenment to be had. For example, I know infinitely more about the political dimensions of the transcontinental railroad in the mid-19th century United States through Director's AARs than I would ever had otherwise. Likewise, I didn’t know a thing about Mexico’s Santa Ana until I read So Far From God by ComradeOm. For a look at an alt-history post-Hitler Fascist Germany with some reasoned speculation as to what would happen (and why), there’s Yogi’s current effort. Granted, these examples won’t appeal to everyone, but whatever your interest, chances are someone is writing about it in a very knowledgeable way.

When it comes to story-driven AARs, I’m eagerly <ahem> awaiting updates to both coz1’s vampire tale and Fiftypence’s The Last Inca. coz1's effort has some interesting character interaction and development, while the mere setting of Fifty's makes for a fascinating read - especially if the story ever gets out of the opening posts.

Finally, there’s the comic AAR. I’m particularly partial to Alfred Packer’s game-spanning chronicle of the Crovan Clan (in CK) and EUIII). It’s not highbrow, it does not make me think or teach me about hitherto unknown historical facts, but it is pretty funny and makes for a great quick relaxing read. Geoffrey Chaucer killing the Emperor in the Imperial outhouse had me in stitches, which might reflect more on my poor taste than anything else.

Finally finally, I’d like to drag an old corpse out of the closet. Yes, I know this technically constitutes thread necromancy, but there are so many great old stories out there, languishing at the bottom of their respective sections. In fact, this great old story was written by none other than the Great Old Storey himself. I apologize for the in-joke, but for those old enough to remember, one mere word should suffice: Crimea. Ah, fond memories... Truly, half of the AAR rightfully belongs in the OT section, but it doesn't matter: there is nobody who can spin a yarn quite as entertaining as Storey.

I could go on and on (anything by Peter Ebbesen, Heagarty’s Gluttonic Knights, coz1’s Into the West, Prufrock451’s To Stand Against The Night, the Macchiavelli multiplayer game in EU2…), but I’m already overdoing it with the links and the misty-eyed reflections. Suffice it to say, there is so much here to read. It’s really easy being a fan of this forum in general and the AARs written on it particular.

Let me close this rambling piece by saying a blanket ‘thank you’ to all the authors writing on the forum, regardless of whether I’ve read your work. You make this a great place to spend some time and I appreciate all your efforts.

And to everyone, whether or not you’re a writer yourself on these boards: read! And comment! It’s the only form of payment we have here, it’s a very small price to pay and it is really appreciated. Oh, and rewarding, too. So do it! It makes everybody happy!

[Lord E]

Congratulations Stuyvesant

[demokratickid]

Congrats, Stuyvesant!

[Storey]

There I was minding my own business when the hair on the back of my neck stood up and it felt like someone was walking on my future grave. So sure enough I jumped over to the Paradox forum and found that Stuyvesant and uttered the unutterable, “Crimea”. And here I’d almost convinced myself that my involvement with that sad backwater province was all a horrible dream.

I always enjoyed Stuyvesant’s posts in my AARs because they were always articulate, incisive and even borderline intelligent. Go figure.

Congrats Stuyvesant!

Joe

[Stuyvesant]

It's time to pass on the torch (torch, fan, whatever...). In the past week, I've been trying to track people whose comments were either unusually insightful, or prolific, or both.

Turns out, there are quite a few people like that out there. It feels like I can't turn my back or a new comment has been posted by the likes of Comagoosie, democratickid or Enewald, to name but a few. Based on that alone, AARland appears to be in rude health.

While I was wandering down memory lane to pick some AARs for my previous post in this thread, I noticed a related thing. Some of the AARs that I remembered as massively popular when I just got started here, the ones that I thought were the towering classics from the 'Golden Age'? Their post and view counts are positively dwarfed by newer arrivals. It was a bit of a shock to me (what do you mean, Heagarty's 'Tales of the Gluttonic Knights' is not in the top ten most-read EU2 AARs?), but it was also a pleasant surprise: clearly, AARland is busier than ever, which is great, for reader and writer alike.

Anyway, I'm supposed to nominate my successor, no amount of procrastination is going to make that go away...

I already mentioned three very worthy candidates. They all have multiple FotW awards under their belts already. I had a very hard time picking just one, but since a Triumvirate of Fans would be a bit unwieldy (and history teaches us that Triumvirates usually end with at least two members dead), I had to whittle it down. In the end, it came down to - well, a random choice, I guess. My apologies to the others, you really deserved it just as much. My guess is that someone else will do you the honor pretty soon.

Congratulations (once more) to Enewald, who has a staggering 8,300+ posts to his name, in barely one-and-a-half years on these boards!

Enewald, come on down and say some nice things!

[Director]

Congratulations to you, Stuyvesant - I seem to somehow have not said this before. Your posts here show why you should be teaching a master class on how to craft a comment.

Some of my best, deepest thinking follows one of your comments. Most of my research precedes them.

And congratulations, Enewald!